Expression and relationship of PD-L1, CD24, and CD47 in hepatitis B virus associated hepatocellular carcinoma

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy is the new standard treatment for advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, many patients still fail to respond. This study explored the expression and prognosis of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1), cluster of differentiation 24 (CD24), and cluster of differentiation 47 (CD47) in patients with hepatitis B virus-associated HCC (HBV-associated HCC). We analyzed sequencing data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and investigated the expression of PD-L1, CD24, and CD47 in HBV-associated HCC patients by immunohistochemistry and their relationship with prognosis and clinicopathological factors. HCC data from the TCGA database show that PD-L1 was substantially correlated with various immune cells. In 67 patients with HBV-associated HCC, high PD-L1 and CD24 expression levels were related to poor overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). PD-L1 expression was significantly associated with the staging of HBV-associated HCC (p = 0.011) and Ki67 expression (p = 0.024). Correlation analysis between variables reveals that PD-L1 was significantly positively correlated with CD24 and CD47. High expression of PD-L1 and CD24 are risk factors for poor prognosis in HBV-associated HCC patients following curative resection. PD-L1 is significantly correlated with CD24 and CD47.